Hager v. Melton

66 S.E. 13, 66 W. Va. 62, 1909 W. Va. LEXIS 125
West Virginia Supreme Court·Decided October 26, 1909·Published·Cited by 27 cases

Opinion

Poffenbarger, Judge:

The City of Charleston complains of a decree of the circuit court of Kanawha county, perpetually enjoining the sheriff of said county from selling certain lots, owned by Nancy J. Hager, to enforce the city’s lien thereon for street paving. The property was certified to the Auditor of the State, as delinquent for non-payment of these assessments, and he certified it to the sheriff of the county for sale as if delinquent for non-payment of ordinary taxes. The sale was enjoined, not merely for irregularity in the sale proceeding, such as defective notice or the like, but also for lack of ri^ht and power in the city to sell the property. The decree declaréis the assessment invalid, illegal and void, cancels and sets it aside as constituting a cloud on the plaintiff’s title, and orders the recordation of a copy of the decree in the clerk’s office of the county court, to operate as a complete discharge and release of the alleged assessment and lien.

The alleged grounds of invalidity in the lien and sale proceedings are, (1) that the ordinance under which the paving was done never became operative or took effect, because it was not published and the evidence of the publication thereof recorded in the manner prescribed by the charter; (2) the contract for the work was not let to the lowest bidder; (3) the assessment was made against three lots as a whole and not against the lots separately, on an apportionment made; (4) the assessment includes apportionment to the plaintiff of the cost of paving street crossings, not authorized by the law; (5) no al-[66] lowanee is made for a portion of the cost of paving paid by the street railway company; (6) property cannot be sold for nonpayment of special assessments, unless certified for sale for other taxes at the same time; (7) the return of delinquency is defective, the affidavit appended to the list being insufficient; (8) the notice of sale is misleading and insufficient.

Section 20 of the charter of the city, passed in 1895, as amended by chapter 36 of the Acts of 1899, provides “that no order, or ordinance imposing, or providing for the imposition of, any assessment, fine or penalty, other than the ordinary annual levy of city taxes, shall * * * go into effect unless and until it shall have been published once a week, for two successive weeks, in some newspaper of general circulation in, and published in, said city, nor unless, and until, the affidavit of the publisher of said paper to such publication be returned to, and spread upon the journal of, the council.” The inhibitory terms of this statute, saying no such ordinance shall go into effect unless, nor until, published and the añida vit of the publisher returned to and spread upon the journal, make these requirements clearly mandatory. 21 A. & E. Eng. Enc. Law 969. If the terms were not prohibitory, .it would be, according to almost uniform authority, only directory, Id.; but, as the legislature has seen fit to use terms generally regarded by the courts as importing intention not to give effect or virtue to an act done in a manner different from that prescribed, we must respect the great weight of judicial opinion and the expression of legislative will as it is interpreted thereby. It is urged that this section was impliedly repealed by the amendment and reenactment of section 28 of the city charter by chapter 152 of the Acts of 1901, since said section 28, as so amended, grants powers and prescribes regulations, concerning the permanent paving of streets, and gives remedies for the collection of the cost thereof, and does not require such publication and recordation of'the evidence thereof. This position is untenable. Chapter 152 of the Acts of 1901 makes no direct reference to said section 20 of the charter. That section relates to the passage of ordinances, imposing special assessments and penalties generally, not merely to those applicable to street improvéments. Section 28, as amended, makes'no provision on that subject. It confers certain powers, without saying how the city shall express its [67] will or volition in exercising them and preserve the evidence thereof. Said section does not purport to be a comprehensive provision, covering all that pertains in any way to street improvements, including the acquisition of jurisdiction, cost, assessment and collection, so as to make it exclusive of all other provisions, relating thereto. The rule invoked is clearly not applicable. The section must be read as part of the chapter. It repeals nothing to which it is not irreconcilably repugnant, and no difficulty whatever is found in allowing section 30 to have full operation and effect consistently with the terms of section 38.

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Hager v. Melton, 66 S.E. 13, 66 W. Va. 62, 1909 W. Va. LEXIS 125 (W. Va. 1909).

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